HPD: Son fatally shot suspect after father was assaulted, forced inside home

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Almost 12 hours after it happened, detectives and the crime scene unit were still piecing it all together. So were neighbors, like Ellen Guest.

"I heard banging. And I got my husband and he went to the door and we did not see anybody in our driveway. So I looked out the window and I could see something was going on in the street," she said.

Something was going on, alright.

This was just before midnight on Wednesday. As Kenneth Sumpter was arriving home, three men ambushed him.

They forced him into the house at gunpoint and started ransacking the place. Police say two of his daughters were still inside.

"They had panic alarms. Little keypads they pushed that, I believe it goes to the alarm company and the alarm company called Pct. 7 constable patrol," said HPD Detective Sgt. Thomas Simmons

In the meantime, his son arrived. He had a gun too, and confronted the attackers. He opened fire, shooting one of the three. Two fled in Sumpter's minivan as neighbor Aryeh Ohayn, a special forces veteran who heard the commotion from down the block, performed CPR.

"It's not something you can explain. It's something that you do. Just help," Ohayn said.

He didn't survive.

On Oct. 28 of last year, a 16-year-old named Matthew Francis also died in a hail of bullets in an apartment complex on Griggs on the southeast side. He was Sumpter's son. His killing at that of another boy the same night sparked enough outrage and concern that the mayor gave HPD $1 million to spend on overtime to crack down on gang violence.

"Just like we placed a lot of resources in protecting the president when he came here, it's important for us to do the same and protect the people who live in our city," said Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Now, this family that has only been renting this home for a few months has experienced violent crime yet again. Is this bad luck, or something more? Neighbors can only wonder.

But despite the pleas from Guest's son to move, they're staying put.

"He said, ‘Ma, you have to move out of that neighborhood. There's no need to move out of the neighborhood. This is a nice, quiet neighborhood. There's not a lot of trouble here," she said.

Investigators say they are looking for a gray 2012 Toyota Sienna minivan with Texas plates DGL-3948.